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Blushing Maiden and Other Desserts - No Breads

Blushing Maiden and Other Desserts - No Breads

Errötende Jungfrau - Blushing Maiden

During these hot and humid days - very unusual for Maine - I didn't bake much, only the breads I sell to A&B Naturals, our local organic market. But, instead of talking about breads, I'd like to share some fruity, tangy summer desserts I made.

My family has two favorite summer desserts, both very light and refreshing.

One is the famous ROTE GRÜTZE, made of at least three different kinds of red berries, a summer treat so popular that it slowly made its way from Denmark and Northern Germany to the South, even welcomed by Bavarians (who notoriously despise everything even remotely "Prussian").

The other goes by the poetical name of ERRÖTENDE JUNGFRAU (= blushing maiden), referring to the delicate pink hue of the dessert. It is made with buttermilk and lemon, and we enjoy it even when the temperature goes up to 90, and we don't feel like eating anything heavy.

Blushing Maiden is, like Rote Grütze, a traditional North German specialty, not only Pommern (Pomerania) (homeland of my mother and grandmother), but Ostpreussen (East Prussia) and Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein claim it as their own.

When I made them, our native wild Maine blueberries were not ripe yet, so I combined (less flavorful) frozen blueberries with rhubarb from the garden and fresh raspberries, a very fruity and tangy combination. They didn't earn their 5-star reviews for nothing - the were absolutely delicious!

I had never visited the South of East Germany before, but in May we went on a trip to Saxony. Checking out the bakeries we found a wonderful Saxon specialty, EIERSCHECKE, a three-layered cake with sweet crust, quark filling and custard.

Of course I had to try it at home, using rhubarb in the filling, and cream cheese instead of quark. The result was everything I had hoped for! The tangy rhubarb made a pleasant contrast to the sweet custard, and the whole thing was so airy and fluffy that I'm sure it didn't have a single calorie!

Eierschecke - a traditional three-layered cake from Saxony and Thuringia.

More about these delicious summer desserts and the recipes you can find here.

I have looked at the KA hand pies so many times and still haven't gotten around to making them..they are very highly rated and it's easy to see why up close your's are just perfectly delicious looking. I brought a pie this week for a group of family and friends and opted for a big Slab Blueberry pie..it worked out great sliced up into squares. It reminded me of the hand pies. All your desserts are beautiful! Isn't it funny how our tastes change with the season's even with desserts : ) I remember your lovely berry dessert, thanks for sharing all.

to have an individual piece (more crust). I saw that big Slab Blueberry Pie recipe, and might give it a try, when out Maine blueberries are ripe.

You are right, several times I froze rhubarb or Italian plums for later use - and then realize that I stopped thinking of it when the season was over, so that they were still unused when the new crop came in.

Dutch stock who oddly were German immigrants, always ate their desert as a first course - just to make sure they were not too full to eat at the end :-) I eat my desert first and, if not full, have another one at the end!My Grandmother cut her desert in half and ate both halves as a first and last course. She was tiny as a result - compared to me.

When John Adams's presidency ended, he returned to his farm in Braintree, MA. It was common for any public figure visiting Boston to make the short trip to Adams's farm to pay their respects and, of course, to stay for dinner. His biographers note that 19 or 20 people for dinner was the norm. His wife, Abigail, being a frugal New England farmer's wife began serving a sweet pudding first in order to satisfy the guests' hunger before serving the meats. Beeves and sheep were expensive; bread pudding was cheap.

Berry season is full on here now and i was wondering what to do with all the blueberries. I will try your Errötende Jungfrau with blueberries. The Rote Grutze also looks awesome and is next in line for my desert list. I was going to do another batch of tiramisu today, but am feeling lazy and will try the blushing maiden.

. . . and you know sometimes the best part about making desserts is licking the bowl. I really loved the subtle cherry flavour! A couple of notes, I used whole 3.5% milk as I had no buttermilk, doubled the lemon juice for the sour and otherwise did everything a half recipe. I am LOVING the results!!!!!

And a little richer. Next time I will take half a recipe, too, since we are only two people. Though the dessert keeps very well in the refrigerator, even after four days, when I had the last bit, it tasted still fresh.

I did a half batch of your recipe using about 40 grams each blue and raspberries and used blueberries for the rest of the fruit. What a nice tasty light summer dessert! Today I purchased cherries to try the traditional way and also fruit for the Rote Grutze which also looks amazing. Single ski bum's are somewhat challenged when it comes to dessert glassware, but I used what I had . . .

That looks even better than mine. And don't worry about traditional or not, there are several recipes for Errötende Jungfrau out there, and the one with cherries is my take on it.

I love all berries, and only regret that we can't get red currants or gooseberries here in Maine, it is prohibited to grow them as a precaution against some bug they might harbor that damages the white pines.

When I was a mere lad (in 1952/3) living in Falkenstein, a suburb of Frankfurt am Main, my sisters and I had a nanny who was a refugee from Prussia; as she was quick to point out. She was just as quick to point out the shortcomings of all southern Germans. It appears the animus went both ways.

She spoke very good English and insisted on using it rather than German in order to improve. I recall she would continuously repeat her mantra, "this, that, these, those, and the others", which at first was "zis, zat, zese, zose, and ze ozers". The zees eventually went away.

She also loved American fashions, especially blue jeans rolled up to Capri length. If you've seen '50s teen movies like "Rock Around the Clock", you know the style. That's what she was wearing the day she walked my sister and I to the school bus stop, when a dog strolled by, paused and heisted his leg against her calf. Obviously a southern German hund.

Yes, those prejudices run deep! And after the opening of the Wall a new animosity sprang up, between "Ossis" (East Germans) and "Wessis" (West Germans).

The West Germans found the Ossis lazy and always waiting for a governmental hand-out. The East Germans saw the Wessis as arrogant know-it-alls. Fortunately, after 24 years, this Wall-in-the-heads was not noticeable anymore, when we traveled to Saxony and Thuringia.

I finally figured it out, added a little lemon juice, a little more water and ended up pouring the remaining vanilla powder into the simmering berries. Pretty simple really and fabulous over French Vanilla ice cream drizzled with a little Creme de Cassis..

I ended up using more or less 125 grams of strawberries, pitted cherries, blackberries and sadly no blueberries and only about 45 grams of raspberries -- all I had left.

I also discovered that 1/2 oz of Creme de Cassis and 11/2 oz vodka makes a dynamite fruity martini!

These are two wonderful recipes Karin and again, many thanks for sharing!

Your Rote Grütze looks great, and I am very happy that it turned out so nice. The choice of fruit can vary, depending on what's available, in Germany they usually have red or black currants, but those are not grown or sold in Maine (sigh!).

I also did batch two of rote grutze using more or less 100 grams each of pitted cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. Due to the sweetness of the berries I cut the sugar to 1 Tbls. Since you shared these recipes I have had both rote grutze and errotende jungfrau in my fridge. I enjoy fresh berries almost every morning with my homemade granola and fruit yogurt. Berry season is full on here and I am most enjoying berry desserts for lunch AND dinner!

Rote Grutze, take 2 over French Vanilla ice cream and drizzled with a little Creme de Cassis, fabulous!

. . . MUCH I like this recipe. I have just done another with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries and after licking the spatula, can't wait to try it on ice cream for dessert! Sadly the cherries are finished for the season . . .

Great recipe!!! Regards, Brian

PS I found some interesting recipes for the Italian Panna Cotta, which is similar to your 'Blushing Maiden' and thought I would share the link:

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